Windows 7 in 2009. PC Gamers rejoice!

At the D6 "All Things Digital" conference (may 27) Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer consented to show off a little of Windows 7 to the press. Ballmer also acknowledged that it will ship in "late 2009". A rumor that started in Jan & has now been confirmed.



So why should "Gamers rejoice!"?

It's no secret that vista has been a little buggy &, before SP1, prone to run games even slower than in XP (now it runs it on par). It's upgrade in graphics & sound subsystems also brought with it much bloat. The improvements were substantial though, I don't want to give the impression they weren't. The bloat that came with them wasn't ideal.


However, the core of Windows 7 will be reinvented. The kernel remains an evolution of Vista; but it will be a larger evolution.

Think Windows 98 to Windows XP. Windows 7 is the true successor to XP. XP's codename was Whistler, Windows 7's codename is Blackcomb. They were taken from the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort in British Colombia (one can only guess a favorite location of Gates). Vista (think Windows ME), codenamed Longhorn was designed to be an interim release while they finished Windows 7.

Now what, you ask, makes Windows 7 so special? It will be running a new core (core, not kernel, their kernel remains an evolution for compatibility); MrWin & MinWin which will cut down majorly on the bloat & make it a faster running more resource friendly OS (sort of like OSX, only with DirectX & games). Some media outlets (*cough*CNET*cough*) are reporting MinWin will not be in Win 7 because MS said the kernel was an evolution. However Mark Russinovich, a MS Fellow & lead OS architect, explained that it is in fact part of the core & that it should not be confused for the kernel.

MS has been much more tight lipped than usual about 7; one can assume it's in part because of Vista's less than stellar sales & their desire not to cannibalize them any more than necessary.
~Chris Flores, MS Windows 7 communications officer:
"What is a little different today is when and how we are talking about the next version of Windows. So, why the change in approach? We know that when we talk about our plans for the next release of Windows, people take action. As a result, we can significantly impact our partners and our customers if we broadly share information. With Windows 7, we're trying to more carefully plan how we share information with our customers and partners. This means sharing the right level of information at the right time depending on the needs of the audience."

Another cool bit of info that was released at D6:

Originated by Jeff Han who debuted it at the 2006 TED conference (an invite only week philanthropic get-together & presentation of about 1,000 of the worlds most influential/successful minds).

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65




Window's 7 will also include a multi-touch interface.

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/05/27/microsoft-demonstrates-multi-touch.aspx

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

So, PC Gamers rejoice! Windows 7, the next boom in graphics card technologies, & cheap/fast quad cores (or oct cores, 8 for u early adopters) await you in 2009. The beginning of a new era is nigh.